fairly lonely
sort of house, and I've spent most of my time either there or at T.C.D.
or at Rumpell's, and somehow I've never got to know any one...."

"Well, you'd better ask Gilbert to take you with him to a first-night.
She's sure to be there, and you can ask him to introduce you to her. And
now, you can hoof out, young fellow!..."

Henry went back to his own room and got into bed, but he did not sleep
until the dawn began to break. His thoughts wandered vaguely about his
mind, bumping up against one recollection and then against another. He
remembered Sheila Morgan and the bright look in her eyes that evening
when she had hurriedly come into the Language class out of the rain ...
and while he was remembering Sheila, he found himself thinking of Mary
Graham and the way in which she would put up her hand and throw her long
hair from her shoulders. Then came memories of Bridget Fallon ... and
almost mechanically he began to murmur a prayer to the Virgin. "Hail
Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among
women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus!..."

He turned over on his side, pulling the bedclothes more closely about
him. "Cecily Jayne," he murmured in a sleepy voice. "What a pretty name,
that is!"

THE FOURTH CHAPTER

1

Their days were spent in work. Ninian and Roger left the house soon
after nine o'clock, Ninian to go to the office of his engineering firm
in Victoria Street, Roger to go to his chambers in the Temple, leaving
Henry and Gilbert to work at home. In the evening, provided that there
was not a "first-night" to call Gilbert to the theatre, they talked of
themselves and of their future. Their egotism was undisguised. They had
set their minds on a high destiny and were certain that they would
achieve it, so they did not waste any energy, as Gilbert once said, in
pretending that they were not remarkably able. In a short time, they
gathered a group of friends about them who were, they thought, likely to
work well and ably, and it became the custom for their friends to visit
them on Thursday evening. Gilbert began the custom of asking some one to
dine with them on Thursday, and the guest was expected to account for
himself to the group that assembled after dinner. The Improved Tories,
according to Gilbert, wanted heart-to-heart talks from people of
experience. If a guest treated them to flummery, they let him know that
they despised his flummery and insisted on